The Championships Bring Change to the Polls as Stanford Holds On & Redlands Climbs to No. 1 in May 4 Women's Varsity National Polls

May 04, 2011

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Stanford
University may have lost the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation (MPSF) title to the University of
California, but remains No. 1 in the May 4 Women's Varsity
Top 20 Poll released today by the Collegiate Water Polo Association
(CWPA) office.

The other three polls (Division
III, Collegiate Water Polo Association Division I/II and Collegiate
Water Polo Association Division III) continue the pattern of new
blood among as the trio of polls new leaders as the
University of Redlands, Indiana
University and Grove City College claimed
their respective championships.

Voted on by a panel of coaches and
administrators from around the country during the preseason and
each week of the season based on the cumulative results of each
team, the Varsity Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water
Polo Association Top 10 polls are released on Wednesday during the
season until the week following the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) Championship.

Women's Varsity Top
20

Stanford University remains the No. 1 selection
in the nation as the Cardinal garnered 98 points to edge out
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion the University
of California by a single point in the May 4 Women's
Varsity Top 20 Poll.

Ranked No. 1 in the preseason (98
points), and the first two polls of the regular season (99 points),
the Cardinal clinched a unanimous spot on top of the poll 11 weeks
ago and remained the consensus pick as the top program in the
nation until this week.

Stanford finished third at this
past weekend's MPSF Championship, suffering its first loss of the
season in Saturday's semifinal against the University of
California-Los Angeles (9-8 L) before rebounding to rout
host San Jose State University, 15-5, Sunday
afternoon to finish third in the league.

However, based on their body of
work to date, the Cardinal will enter the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship in a week at the
University of Michgian with an at-large bid and
the No. 1 seed. Fellow MPSF members Cal, UCLA and the
University of Southern California also made the
field claiming the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds. The Big West
Conference, which for the first time received an automatic bid this
season, will be represented by No. 5 seed the University of
California-Irvine. Indiana University,
champion of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), received
the No. 6 seed while Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) champion
the University of California-San Diego will be the
seventh seed. Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion
Iona College and Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champion the
University of Redlands will appear in a play-in
game to determine program earns the No. 8 seed for the tournament
field.

Behind Stanford in this week's
poll, Cal, UCLA and USC retained the No. 2-4 spots, respectively,
while San Jose State climbs up two places to No. 5. The
University of Hawaii slips one position to No, 6,
with the University of California-Irvine and
Arizona State University progressing to No. 7 and
8. San Diego State University holds on at
No. 9 for another week, while Indiana breaks into the Top 10 to
rate as the highest ranked East Coast institution.

The University of
Michgian, which was ranked at No. 6 last week, falls to
No. 11 in the May 4 poll following a 5-3 loss to Indiana in the
CWPA Eastern Championship title game. Loyola
Marymount University joins the Wolverines in falling out
of the Top 10 as LMU drops to No. 12, while Long Beach
State University improves three places to No. 13.

Among teams that are breaking into
the Top 20, the University of California-San Diego
goes from receiving votes to No. 14. The University
of California-Davis moves up three spots to No. 15,
Hartwick College drops four places to No. 16, with
the University of Maryland improving to No. 17
behind the Hawks whom the Terrapins defeated 7-6 in the CWPA
Eastern Championship third place contest.

California State
University-Northridge, University of the
Pacific and Iona complete the Top 20.

There is a new dog on top of the pile this week as the
University of Redlands, which captured the
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title with
a 7-6 upset of top seed and former No. 1-ranked Occidental College,
takes over as the No. 1 small college team in the nation in the May
4 Women's Varsity Division III Poll.

Occidental, which held the No. 1
ranking since the preseason poll, slips to No. 2 behind the
unanimous top pick Redlands, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Colleges drop to No. 3.

Pomona-Pitzer
Colleges and Whittier College remain at
No. 4 and 5, while the University of La Verne
jumps three spots to No. 6.

California Lutheran
University slides to No. 7, with Grove City
College, Chapman University and
Washington & Jefferson College rounding out
the Top 10.

For the first time since the 2007 season, a team other than the
University of Michigan stands on top of the
Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division I/II rankings
after the league's championship weekend as Indiana
University used a 5-3 defeat of the Wolverines to take the
2011 CWPA Eastern Championship at home in Bloomington, Ind.

The victory rockets the Hoosiers to
the top position as a unanimous selection in the May 4 league
poll.

Behind Indiana, the remainder
of the Top 10 also reflects the outcome of the 2011 CWPA Eastern
Championship as Michigan, the University of
Maryland, Hartwick College,
Princeton University, Harvard
University, Bucknell University,
George Washington University, Brown
University and Mercyhurst College.

2011 CWPA Division I Poll(Week 15 -
May 4)

Rank

Team

April 27
Poll

Points

1

Indiana University

3

100

2

University of Michigan

1

95

3

University of Maryland

4

90

4

Hartwick College

2

85

5

Princeton University

5

80

6

Harvard University

6

75

7

Bucknell University

10

70

8

George Washington University

8

65

9

Brown University

7

60

10

Mercyhurst College

9

55

Women's Varsity CWPA Division
III Top 5

The top team in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)
Division III Top 5 is once again Grove City
College as the Wolverines captured the league title and
returned to the top position in the May 4 CWPA Division III Top
Five Poll for the first time since April 6.

Grove City, which captured the
program's second CWPA Division III crown in as many years, was
replaced on top of the league's rankings by Carthage
College for three weeks (April 13, 20, 27) before
regaining the No. 1 ranking.

Overall, the poll underwent
dramatic changes as Washington & Jefferson
College, which fell to Grove City 7-2 in the CWPA Division
III title game, jumps up two spots to No. 2. Wheaton
College retains its position at No. 3, with
Macalester College and Carthage
College tying at No. 4.

The Lady Reds slip to No. 4 was due
to Macalester as the No. 9 seed Scots upset No. 1 seed Carthage
11-10 at home during the Division III Eastern Championship over the
weekend in St. Paul, Minn.